Wildfire effects on extractable elements in ash from a Pinus pinaster forest in Portugal |
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| Authors: | Paulo Pereira Xavier Úbeda Deborah Martin Jorge Mataix‐Solera Artemi Cerdà Maria Burguet |
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| Institution: | 1. Environmental Management Center, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania;2. GRAM (Mediterranean Environmental Research Group), Department of Physical Geography and Regional Geographic Analysis, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain;3. USGS, Boulder, CO, USA;4. Environmental Soil Science Group, Department of Agrochemistry and Environment, Miguel Hernández University, Elche, Alicante, Spain;5. Department of Geography, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain;6. Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (IAS‐CSIC), Department of Agronomy, University of Cordoba, Córdoba, Spain |
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| Abstract: | The aim of this work is to study the effects of a wildfire on water‐extractable elements in ash from a Pinus pinaster forest located in Portugal. The pH, electrical conductivity (EC), calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), sodium and potassium adsorption ratio (SPAR), aluminium (Al3+), manganese (Mn2+), iron (Fe2+), zinc (Zn2+), sulphur (S), silica (Si) and phosphorous (P) were analysed in ash sampled from a sloped area burned in a wildfire and from litter from a contiguous unburned area, with similar morphological conditions. The results showed that ash leachates had higher pH and EC, and were significantly richer in water‐extractable Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, SPAR, S and Si and significantly poorer in water‐extractable Al3+, Fe2+, Mn2+ and Zn2+ than litter solutions. No significant differences were observed in water‐extractable P. The fire changed the ash solute chemistry compared with the unburned litter and increased the sample variability of nutrient distribution with potential implications for plant recovery. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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| Keywords: | wildfire water‐extractable elements SPAR ash litter sample variability |
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